DOC FIX PITS REID AND WYDEN – House Speaker John Boehner is trying to quell opposition to the one-year “doc fix” bill he brokered with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, now that Finance Chairman Ron Wyden is pushing his own long-term alternative and the major doctors’ groups have come out against the plan. Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn writes, “The House was planning to vote on the one-year Sustainable Growth Rate patch on Thursday under a suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds vote. It was unclear Wednesday evening whether that vote would proceed.

“…Wyden is trying to gather support for a permanent solution to the flawed Medicare physician payment formula. That’s what the physician groups want too. The combination is making Republican rank and file nervous about the House patch.” http://politico.pro/1pzgd9j

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--Groups opposing the bill include the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Osteopathic Association and American Academy of Family Physicians. AOA president Norman Vinn wrote to lawmakers that a temporary patch will just increase the cost of permanent repeal and “punt” the problem into the next Congress. http://politico.pro/1o2nWkF The College of Surgeons and other surgical groups oppose how it would be paid for. http://politico.pro/NW9BFI

Good Thursday morning, PULSE readers. If you asked the “doc fix,” it would probably say it’s really jealous of Obamacare’s extension right about now. Don’t think the administration can issue some miracle pronouncement to avoid the Medicare payment cliff, so Congress better get its act together soon. As always, follow me on Twitter at @pw_cunningham or send tips to pcunningham@politico.com.

“There is no them, there’s only PULSE.”

DAYS TO APRIL 1:Five. And it sounds like the White House is a flurry of activity, at least according to the daily updates it’s sending out. Visitors to HealthCare.gov totaled 1.1 million on Monday and 1.2 million on Tuesday, an official said. There’s a new video message in which President Obama encourages people to enroll: http://bit.ly/1gYOFVA Radio interviews with Vice President Biden will air in Columbus, Cleveland and Pennsylvania. Apparently Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack and WH advisor Valerie Jarrett are also fanning out across the airwaves.

--The WH is also touting last-minute celebrity pitches. Eva Longoria appears in a video from Voto Latino. http://bit.ly/1j5XOB1 Yesterday, Kobe Bryant called into ESPN’s Mike and Mike show to discuss young athletes and young adults getting covered. http://es.pn/1dtk1sC And musician Janelle Monae also called into radio shows touting the ACA’s benefits.

MEDICARE DRUG DELAY WAS DIFFERENT — Amid all the hubbub about the newly-announced enrollment extension, the White House has been reminding people that the Medicare prescription drug program gave seniors extra time to sign up if they got stuck, too. Except that wasn’t exactly the same, according to Mark McClellan, the man who ran the launch of Medicare Part D. The prescription drug extension was for a relatively small group of low-income seniors who qualified for extra financial assistance. POLITICO’s David Nather reports: http://politico.pro/P32w77

SUBSIDIES GRANTED FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS — Treasury announced another enrollment extension yesterday that’s smaller than the big one everyone’s in a tizzy about. This one gives married victims of domestic violence until May 31 to sign up for Obamacare plans and provides them with access to insurance subsidies even if they file separately from their spouse. Under previous rules, spouses had to file jointly to receive the subsidies, no matter what the circumstances. The agency has promised a proposed rule later this spring but issued guidance yesterday: http://1.usa.gov/1o28Agd ICYMI, our story: http://politico.pro/1hbdsuf

SHOOTING THE ACA, LITERALLY — Republicans fire figuratively at Obamacare all the time, but one congressional candidate literally shot at a paper copy of the law in a video posted yesterday. In it, Will Brooke — who’s running for a House seat in Alabama — loads the piece of legislation into a pickup truck, constructs a wood container to hold it in place and uses three different guns to fire off shots at the bill, none of which are completely successful.

--“Well, we had some fun and knocked some holes in it, but we didn’t quite get the job done,” he says. “Looks like we’ll have to resort to more extreme measures to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with a market-based solution.” The ending is the best part. The video: http://bit.ly/1dOyGcR

**A message from the American Hospital Association. Hospitals are vital to meeting the health care needs of every community. Access to care is threatened by repeated federal funding cuts — more than $117.5 billion since 2010 — putting at risk the 5.5 million jobs hospitals provide. Congress: Reject further cuts to patient care. Visit www.aha.org/protectcare **

BACK-AND-FORTH — The debate’s continuing between Ways and Means Republicans and HHS over whether the agency has more enrollee data than it’s letting on. HHS responded yesterday to a letter the House committee had sent on Tuesday requesting more detailed information. The agency wrote that it receives only “aggregate-level, initial data” from some but not all insurers and the enrollment and payment information is “incomplete and fluctuating.” The letter: http://politico.pro/1j5uL0k Ways and Means didn’t seem convinced. Spokeswoman Sarah Swinehart said the letter “confirms that HHS has this data but refuses to make it public.”

IT’S FREE MONEY, PEOPLE — A majority of people expected to get coverage on the exchanges would be eligible for subsidies, yet just one in five of the eligible had applied for coverage through February, a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds. And that rate is far lower in Iowa, New Mexico, Oklahoma and the Dakotas, where just 1 in 10 had signed up. At the other end of the scale are Washington, Connecticut, California, Rhode Island and Vermont, all of which are running their own exchanges. The Pro story: http://politico.pro/1m7I3td

DEMS PROPOSE NEW ACA CHANGES — Five moderate Senate Democrats and Sen. Angus King, an independent, have an op-ed in POLITICO laying out changes they’d like to see to the Affordable Care Act. Among their proposals: adding a new, lower-cost “copper” plan to the exchanges, developing models for selling insurance access state lines, exempting businesses with fewer than 100 workers from the coverage mandate and providing a permanent path for consumers to enroll in exchange coverage directly through insurers. Authors include Sen. Mary Landrieu and Mark Begich — both up for reelection — along with Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, Mark Warner and Joe Manchin. http://politi.co/1dtELk5

SLOWER RECALLS? — New FDA requirements to guard against contaminated food could slow grocery stores’ ability to get dangerous items off the shelves, the Food Marketing Institute warns. The agency is considering requiring food manufacturers and retailers to submit more consumer-focused information on contaminated products, which stores would have to then display for 14 days. The grocery store industry is not crazy about the potential changes. The Pro Agriculture story: http://politico.pro/1flbbII

SALMONELLA ATLAS NOW AVAILABLE — If you’re looking for some light reading about Salmonella, the CDC’s got you covered. The agency has compiled the Atlas of Salmonella in the United States, 1968-2011, which summarizes surveillance data from people, animals and other sources on 32 types of the bacteria. The information is organized by different categories. Check it out: http://1.usa.gov/1j5qha0

NEW MEDICAID ENROLLEES HEALTHIER — People who are newly eligible for expanded Medicaid are healthier than adults already in the program, finds a study published yesterday in Health Affairs. It also found that people who could have been in Medicaid before the health law were also healthier than actual enrollees. Both of these groups had physical and mental health that was equal or better than pre-ACA participants. Of course that means states choosing to expand Medicaid are likely to enroll individuals who are in better health than their existing Medicaid populations. The study: http://bit.ly/1mvARtN

WHAT WE’RE READING, By Jennifer Haberkorn

Insurers are worried about the lack of details surrounding the new flexibility in the health law's March 31 deadline, the WSJ reports. http://on.wsj.com/1rDjOHo

The delays in the individual mandate prove that it is too weak to prompt the uninsured to buy coverage, Abby McCloskey and Tom Miller write in the WSJ. http://on.wsj.com/1iCsM2C

The ACA may be a blessing in disguise — and actually help conservatives achieve their health care policy goals, former Romney health adviser Lanhee Chen writes in Bloomberg View. http://bv.ms/1lnIeTW

The government will meet and potentially exceed the 6 million enrollment goal, analysts tell USA Today. http://usat.ly/1eSyvRa

The FDA on Wednesday said that nearly all companies that make animal antibiotics said they agreed to phase out the drugs to make animals grow faster, the New York Times reports. http://nyti.ms/1o2UY4d

Hospitals in Washington state face a deadline this week to publish policies on reproductive health, end-of-life care, non-discrimination and other policies, Modern Healthcare reports. http://bit.ly/OWyTov

** Congress should reject further cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding for hospital services. Learn more at www.aha.org/protectcare. **

** A message from PhRMA: Diabetes is a complex disease affecting more than 30 million Americans – with one-in-ten living in DC, Maryland and Virginia having the disease. Thanks to advances in diabetes care, patients around the country are living longer, healthier lives. Take five-year-old Rhys for example [link to his I’m Not Average profile]. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 15-months-old, but today, he is a thriving young boy. This is due in large part to new and innovative medicines developed by researchers and scientists at America’s biopharmaceutical companies. Learn more about the medicines in development for diabetes here. **

Authors:

About The Author

Paige Winfield Cunningham is a health care reporter for POLITICO Pro and co-author of the morning newsletter Pulse. Previously she reported for The Washington Times’ political team, covering elections, Congress and health policy, including the 2012 Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act.

Cunningham grew up in St. Louis and attended college in the Chicago area, graduating from Wheaton College in 2006. She spent most of her time at the Wheaton Record, where she served as features editor, but made sure she still had time for playing violin in the conservatory orchestra.

Cunningham covered county government for the Naperville Sun right out of college, but when the paper filed for bankruptcy, she decided it was time to move on. She moved to the D.C. area in 2009 to report on Virginia government and currently lives in that state with her husband.